Before passing away in the year 2005, Dr. Trogawa Rinpoche answered questions
that students who attended his seminar asked, and this short article hopes
to do justice to his sincere concern about nyen diseases that are emerging
in modern times.

Question: Would you please speak about latest research results concerning
AIDS?
Dr. Trogawa Rinpoche: Scientists have discovered that AIDS is not transmitted
through saliva, even if the virus can be detected in the saliva of a patient.
Evidently, saliva has the property of being able to reduce and even destroy
the virus. A German doctor quite knowledgeable in traditional homeopathy,
who worked at a famous institute specialized in blood tests in Berlin,
was very successful when he treated his AIDS patients with injections of
their own saliva. The only problem is the long period of incubation before
the virus becomes active and detectable, which can be as long as two to
nine years. We do know that AIDS is transmitted through direct blood contact
or through intercourse since the virus persists in every cell of the body.
The disease cannot be contracted through saliva because of the minimal
quantity in the saliva of an infected person.
Tibetan physicians speak of AIDS as a nyen disease, which is very hard
to diagnose. But there is no doubt that the disease is impure blood and
can be compared to leprosy.

Student: Another problem is that AIDS patients are discriminated and
helpers can only tell them to accept their situation and live with it,
leaving it at that.
Rinpoche: I visited the National Medical Institute in Washington, D.C.
in 1984 and was overwhelmed by its size and the budget at its disposal.
The institute is almost as big as a city - one needs a car to get from
one end to the other. It is impossible to walk through the institute in
one day, evidence that size and dimensions are the American way of life.
I had the impression that the energy and exertion invested in this institute
made it possible that every disease, once diagnosed, could be cured, that
every health problem can be solved. All the high-tech apparatus that enable
doctors to make brain and heart scans, just to mention a few innovations
of the modern world, are remarkable. I was introduced to a man who was
probably the General Secretary or Director of the National Medical Institute;
he was probably only a step lower in the social ladder of very important
persons in the United States. I also met many cancer specialists. We spoke
about AIDS. They were frustrated and asked, “What can we do?” My response
was and is, “Back to the basics, a balanced diet and conscientious behaviour.”
AIDS, like cancer, is a nyen disease and needs to be treated with the recitation
of mantras, especially with that of Bodhisattva Vajrasattva. A patient
needs to lead a balanced life and practice this meditation deity as sincerely
as possible.
Both Lord Buddha and Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, prophesied that
nyen diseases would arise and increase in future times. They also spoke
about the causes of nyen diseases, namely that immoral behaviour and unhealthy
habits would get worse and worse as time proceeded; ethical behaviour and
mutual responsibility and care, on a small and large scale, would decline,
and people would treat each other badly. Another major cause for nyen diseases
is pollution, which is so terribly devastating and harmful. Spirits are
attracted to and live in polluted and contaminated earth, stones, and rocks
and their breath infects man with diseases that had not existed until circumstances
arose. Stress is also a contributory factor that weakens the immune system.
In those cases, medicine at our disposal cannot help. An ancient Tibetan
medical text states that synthetic products would one day be produced and
that they would definitely induce the development of new diseases. Nuclear
contamination is another crucial factor giving rise to more horrific diseases
that man just cannot cope with or heal.
What are nyen? They are a type of parasitic microorganism that attack
the glands. Gland diseases have always afflicted mankind but could be healed
easily in the past. Degenerate gland diseases are new, though, and are
malignant.1
Cancer was not known in Tibet, i.e., at the time I was forced to leave.
I hadn’t heard of it until I arrived in India. My first encounter with
this most vicious disease was a patient who suffered heavily from one or
two phlegm disorders, bad-kan in the throat and bad-kan in the stomach.
These two disorders can be healed quite easily with traditional medicine
but more and more patients I was treating did not recover at all. It seemed
as though these harmless disorders had suddenly become violent. At this
point I realized that we were facing cancer.
A very old Tibetan scripture, written in a language that nobody can
read or understand off-hand, not only describes diseases that would arise
in much later times in great detail and precisely but also taught heedful
methods of treatment. In any case, treatment of many new diseases involves
medication combined with mantra recitation. It is necessary to decipher
the ancient script and then prepare the medicine accordingly, while reciting
the appropriate mantra. A few instructions have been translated and are
successfully being applied in the treatment of cancer, presupposing it
is not much too late and patients have not undergone chemotherapy. The
ancient medical scripture consists of 18 chapters dealing with nyen diseases
and speaks about four or five in detail; it lists a total of seven diseases
that would arise in modern times, the first being cancer, the second being
AIDS.
My colleague and friend, Dr. Tenzin Choedrak is working together with
Dr. Benson from Harvard University.2 They asked a few cancer patients in
the United States who were open to recite mantras to please do so; a few
recovered beautifully. In the meantime, all doctors at the Tibetan Medical
Institute in Dharamsala treat cancer patients. They have been able to prolong
the lives of many patients suffering from liver cancer and are happy to
report that many of them have recovered fully by enjoying the treatment
that the early Tibetan text prescribes. Specialists at the institute are
preparing more and more medicine against cancer according to these instructions.
Once a 50-year old woman who had a brain tumour, who had been exposed to
strong chemotherapy and only had one month to live, called. I am very happy
to have helped her live comfortably for another two years. While living
in Bhutan for a while, a few women with breast cancer, who had been told
to go under the scissors, called on me. I treated them with non-invasive
medicine and mantras – a few recovered completely.
I think the karmic connection between a doctor and his or her patients
is important for full recovery to happen. Furthermore, a physician’s character
and his sincerity of contemplating karma are also decisive to heal the
sick.
It is important to be very cautious of one’s health and to receive
help as early as possible when one is sick, especially if one has cancer.
When cancer reaches a certain stage, it is incurable. In the meantime,
though, my opinion of chemotherapy is better than it was years ago. Smaller
doses are being prescribed and at intervals, reducing the agony of side
effects a patient suffers if given too much all at once. If the tumour
is still small, surgery is often very good.
Question: Are spirits always involved when it comes to nyen diseases
or are there nyen diseases that breed in synthetic products?
Rinpoche: Violent and aggressive nyen diseases are always caused by
spirits. Violent nyen diseases cannot be healed with non-invasive, traditional
medicine.

Question: Is there a meditation practice to protect oneself against
radioactivity, for instance, if one lives near an atomic energy plant?
Rinpoche: It depends upon the individual.

1 The Rangjung Yeshe Tibetan-English Dictionary (online) translated
the Tibetan term nyen as ‘dangerous’, also as ‘infectious.’ In the article,
Causes of Mental Disorders, Dr. Trogawa Rinpoche tells us, “There are 360
female spirits connected with desire, 360 male spirits connected with aggression,
and 360 water-dwelling spirits (nagas in Sanskrit, klu in Tibetan) connected
with ignorance. Earth spirits (sa-bdag in Tibetan) live in rocks and stones
and are connected with ignorance, too. If the mind poisons dominate, any
or all spirits harm and can only be pacified through religious practice
and rites.” Dr. Trogawa Rinpoche, Causes of Mental Disorders..
2 Dr. L.B. Grotte tells us that Dr. Choedrak “completed his lifetime
on April 6th, 2001.” Dr. Grotte’s words are so encouraging, “His clear
vision and subtle ability was an inspiration to everyone who met him. Dr.
Choedrak was born in Yakda, Tibet in 1923. His remarkable journeys took
him into worlds of knowledge and experiences most of us will only read
about. Time with such rare teachers is always too short. (…) Great tragedy
swirled around him as Tibet disappeared, not least of which was the personal
suffering he faced at the hands of the Chinese. For those who are interested,
I suggest In Exile from the Land of Snows by John F. Avedon. The particulars
of his imprisonment are harrowing, and his testimony to the U.S. Congress
on May 8, 1996 can be found at the ‘Save Tibet’ website. It is a sobering
reminder of the true inner nature of the modern Chinese State. Dr. Choedrak
bore the scars of his imprisonment to his death, but his life, his words,
and his actions all reflected his transcendence of bitterness and anger.
Patience and kindness were always in evidence. Would that we all had the
courage to be like him. At least, we might never forget his example.” Dr.
L.B. Grotte, M.D., Dr. Tenzin Choedrak. In Memoriam, in the site: drgrotte.com.

"Tibetan incense, medicinal powder, and
Tibetan 'precious pills' are ingreat demand here," said one police officer who asked not to be
named."People believe that it can prevent the virus. And SARS hasn't spread
to Tibet."Radio Free Asia-May 7, 2003